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PAGE 20 - “THE STAR” Tuesday, July 12, 2016
By Tayla Kershaw
INVERLOCH is aiming to become
a plastic bag free community.
By the end of the year local shops –
including Foodworks – will offer “boo-
merang bags”, which are an environmen-
tally friendly alternative to use during the
weekly shopping trips.
These will be available in bins at the
front of the shop. The concept behind the
boomerang bag is to borrow it and then
bring it back so everyone has the oppor-
tunity to phase out plastic bags.
Foodworks store manager Brendan
O’Leary said the supermarket will wel-
come the cloth bag donations when the
boomerang bag initiative is officially
launched at the end of the year.
“We thought it was a good idea to
have reusable bags available. We do have
biodegradable bags available at the mo-
ment but they still take a while to break
down,” he said.
“We support the use of recycle bags
and are happy to help. This will be the
first time we’ve done something to sup-
port the environment with the customers,
but we have put in place other measures
like the biodegradable bags, installing so-
lar panels on the roof, and replacing all
lights with LEDs.”
Travelling plastic campaigner Antho-
ny Hill from Plastic Pollution Solutions
raised plastic waste awareness in Inver-
loch in 2015 when 200 people attended
trivia night.
Mr Hill returned to the area last month
and officially form the Plastic Bag Free
Bass Coast (PBFBC) group, and proposed
the group start making hundreds of sewn
cloth bags to be distributed in Inverloch’s
shopping district in November.
The project has been trialled over the
school holidays, with children in the In-
verloch school holiday program making
their own tie dyed cloth bags to give to
their families.
PBFBC member Alleen Vening gave
seven hours of her time to sew the 12 bags
made so far,
Now it’s the community’s turn to
come together and to create and promote
the bags.
“There were 600 bags made in Mal-
lacoota and we want to see a similar out-
come in Inverloch,” childcare facilitator
and In-Venure family day care worker
Cynthia Marriner said.
If you are interested in getting in-
volved, contact Ms Vening on 0408 726
717 or veninga@dcsi.net.au, PBFBC co-
ordinator Ed Thuxton on 0407 560 324
or edriparian@gmail.com, Clean Ocean
Foundation’s Becky Banks on 0498 486
282, or http://boomerangbags.org for
more information.
Saving the environment: from left, Inverloch children Georgia Cousens, An-
gus Cousens, Adam Forsythe, Thomas Courtney, Lloyd Coote, Millie Coote and
Georgia Courtney worked alongside childcare facilitator and In-Venure family
day care worker Cynthia Marriner to make cloth shopping bags during the Inver-
loch school holiday program. More of these bags will be produced and given to
Inverloch’s shopping district in November to phase out plastic bags.
Sewing the seams
to reduce plastic
IT has been a year
since Tammy Logan
chose to eliminate
plastic from her life
and the Poowong
blogger
has
not
looked back.
The waste free guru
now shares her tips on re-
ducing waste and landfill
through her site Gippsland
Unwrapped and said there
are a number small steps
people can take as part of
Plastic Free July.
“I started the challenge
in June of last year because
I could not wait until July.
It really stuck and it has
been over a year now and
my family have got into a
groove with it,” she said.
“My whole family is
on board now and over
the past year we have had
our ups and downs, but
I think we have encoun-
tered most challenges in-
volving plastic now and
we have solutions.”
Mrs Logan and her
family chose to measure
A year without plastic
Waste
collection:
Tammy Logan was able
to fit all of her plastic
waste into a mason jar
at the end of six months
thanks to her plastic free
lifestyle.
SAY “no” to the four biggest plastic pollut-
ers: straws, plastic bags, plastic water bottles
and disposable coffee cups. These can all be
replaced with alternative carriers or not used
at all.
Look at what personal care products can be made
from home. Tammy washes her hair with a shampoo bar
sold at a local market. In between times she shampoos
with bicarbonate soda and rinses with apple cider vin-
egar.
Instead of using cling wrap, melt beeswax onto a piece
of scrap cotton material and let it set. Use a rubber band
to seal it to whichever produce or goods you wish to keep
fresh.
Get creative. Use scrap materials around the house to
make material goods rather than purchasing new pieces
of non biodegradable plastic.
Tammy’s tips to make
plastic free easy:
A passionate adventur-
er, who hasn’t let dis-
ability stop him from
living life to the fullest,
is helping Parks Victo-
ria test new equipment
that could be used in
the future to help oth-
ers undertake more
challenging hikes in
National Parks.
Campbell
Message,
who became a paraplegic
after a car accident when
he was two, volunteered his
time recently to test special
adaptive equipment at Wil-
sons Promontory National
Park to see if it would help
people to undertake the dif-
ficult hike.
Campbell tested an off-
road handcycle with ultra
low gears for steep hill
climbing. It also has two
wheels at the front for extra
stability and an extra steer-
ing system that can be acti-
vated by moving the chest
on a panel attached to the
steering. All camping gear
needed to be carried and
Campbell also had to tow
his wheelchair on a trailer
attached to the off road
handcycle.
He was accompanied
by two wonderful friends
on the hike from Telegraph
Saddle to Oberon Bay;
camped overnight then un-
dertook the coastal route to
Tidal River.
Parks Victoria chief
executive Bradley Fauteux
said, “Victoria is home to
many beautiful parks and
it’s our goal at Parks Victo-
ria to ensure everyone has
the ability to access and
explore these marvellous
locations”.
“We already have some
great equipment in place to
make parks more accessible
for people with a disabil-
ity, and the handcycle that
Campbell tested has good
potential for people with a
disability who are keen to
take on more challenging
hikes.”
Campbell Message, lei-
sure specialist/ client liai-
son, Victorian Spinal Cord
Service, said “Experiences
like this not only are fun,
but can change people’s
expectations of what is pos-
sible; with and without a
disability”.
View the video of Camp-
bell and the team in action
at the Prom https://youtu.
be/lCqBgAxr7kQ
how much plastic and
non-compostable goods
they go through. On New
Year’s Day each family
member started keeping
all of their waste in 1lt ma-
son jars to see what impact
they are making.
“Our houses are full
of waste stuff so it takes
a while to leech out. Any-
thing that cannot be re-
duced, recycled, compos-
ted or rotted goes into the
jar,” Mrs Logan said.
“I managed to keep my
things inside the jar and I
was really impressed with
everyone in my family for
the efforts they have made.”
Mrs Logan has been
invited to share her waste
free tips at a number of
environmental functions
over the coming months
and said she is excited to
share her ideas with the
community.
“Each
post
on
Gippsland Unwrapped is
seen by between 10,000
and 30,000 people so the
message is really getting
out there now,” she said.
“It has been really nice
connecting with other peo-
ple and receiving thanks
from families who are look-
ing to reduce their waste.”
“A lot of local busi-
nesses have also respond-
ed and jumped on board
by finding new approaches
to offer unpackaged foods
and goods. Some people
are really trying to support
this lifestyle.”
For more information
in how to reduce waste
this Plastic Free July www.
gippslandunwrapped.com
Waste free expert: Ta m -
my Logan has mastered a
waste free lifestyle since
she launched her blog
Gippsland Unwrapped
and opted to forego plastic
a year ago.
Testing the limits of wheelchair hiking
Trail blazing: Camp-
bell Message tested an
off-road hand cycle at
Wilsons Promontory.